Grayson County TXGenWeb

C. J. O'Maley

Charles John O'Maley, born November 8, 1861, Rochester, Monroe Co., New York, was the fourth son of Owen E. O'Maley and Mary Elizabeth "Libby" Yawman; both O'Maley grandparents were natives of Ireland. By the time he was 4 years old, his family had moved to Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois where his father was a clerk in the U.S. Court. By 1880 the large O'Maley family had moved to Denison, Grayson Co., Texas and his father had joined the ranks of those employed by the railroad. Frank at the age of 21 and Charles at the age of 19 were also in the employe of the railroad as railroad clerks.

On October 2, 1890 Charles, 28, married Flora M.B. Kaufman, 23, (1867 - 1958) in her home of Bourbon Co., Kansas. A few years later Owen E. O'Maley died Sunday, February 18, 1894 at his home in east Denison and was buried in Calvary Cemetery beside his wife who died in 1958.

O'Maley's
120 West Main St
Diamonds, Watches and Jewelry Bought and Sold. Railroad and Steamship Brokers. Loans.
Robinson, Frank M., comp. Industrial Denison. [N.p.]: Means-Moore Co., [ca. 1901]. Page 51.

C. J. O'Maley : Diamonds, Watches, Jewelry and General Merchandise, Musical Instruments, Talking Machines, etc. 120 W. Main St.

This famous house has been a feature of the business interests of Denison for the past fourteen years, and Mr. O'Maley has always been an ardent champion of the city and her brilliant future. It is well that he should be loyal to the up-to-date and ever prosperous city, for Denison has bestowed her bounties upon him with a generous hand. During the fifteen years he has been in business here, he has, by close attention and intelligent management, achieved great success. Mr. O'Maley is an able financier and understands marshalling his assets with judicious skill. In addition to dealing in the above lines of goods, he also does a general loan business, and there is scarcely any one man in the city through whose hands more money passes in the course of a year. He is thoroughly progressive as a citizen and does all he can for the benefit of the community.

Source: “Denison, the Texas Gateway: A Busy, Progressive City with Golden Opportunities.” 16pp. Brochure. N.p.: N.d. [ca. 1908].

C. J. O'Maley & Co.
109 East Main Street
Denison, Texas
From 1896 Denison City Directory

Yellow Jacket
Denison High School
Christmas (December) 1910 edition

116 - 120 W. Main St.
ca. 1997

The building, which always housed two separate stores as well as furnished rooms upstairs, is perhaps the only intact nineteenth-century storefront remaining in Denison. The structure is notable for original doors, suspended canopy, terra cotta foliar relief panels on second-floor windows, and corbelling.

By 1900 Charles and Flora are living in their newly built home at 427 East Maple Row.

O'Maley owned several buildings in Denison, one being "opposite the Gazetteer" at 113 W. Main Street.

The ladies of the Calvary Cemetery Association held an ice cream and cake event in the building in the spring of 1900 to benefit the cemetery.

He had the existing building on that property dismantled after a fire in November 1901's early morning hours destroyed the building.

In one week Architect Lelardoux was preparing plans for the new O'Maley building, which would basically look like Mr. O'Maley's building located four doors west of the Gazetteer office. ("Condensed Home News." The Sunday Gazetteer, November 24, 1901, pg. 3) The new building was completed in the spring of 1902.

Just two weeks after the dismantling of the old building located at 113 W. Main St., carpenters and stone masons were working on the new building.

The plans for the newly constructed building created a building similar to the building in which Mr. O'Malley operated his business at 120 West Main St., four doors west of the Gazetteer office.

Occupying the first floor of the newly constructed building owned by O'Maley was Busi Bros., a restaurant featuring Mexican cuisine.

In 1903 the building was occupied by the Oak Hill Cafe, a lunchroom and Floyd & Underwood, a cigar and barber shop. (1903 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1903 Denison City Directory)
O’Maley’s was described in 1909 as “O’Maley’s, Diamonds, watches and Jewelry Bought and Sold; Railroad and Steamship Brokers; Loans.”

The Sunday Gazetteer
Sunday, September 20, 1908

Charles John O'Maley died in Denison on March 11, 1923 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery beside his wife who died
In 1936. Later in the year after her husband's death, Mrs. O'Maley, her mother and brother-in-law spent several months in California; their plans were to "winter" in Denison. However at the end of November 1923, Mrs. O'Maley and her mother made a trip to Little Rock, Arkansas to visit relatives, possibly for the holiday season.

In the spring of 1925, Mrs. O'Maley and her mother again spent several months visiting relatives in Little Rock, Arkansas. Evidently the relative they were visiting in Arkansas was her brother, Herbert Koffman, who accompanied his sister and mother home to Denison and returned home to Little Rock after a few days visit in Denison.

At one point Mrs. O'Maley performed her daily routines before leaving for a visit to California. By 1941 she had not returned although the house was kept as she left it and occupied for several years only by her maid, Emma.

(Editor's note: The editor of The Denison Press evidently relied on his memory as to when Mrs. O'Maley left for California; as noted above, she was still living in her home in Denison as late as the spring of 1925; this would have been must less than the quarter of a century as stated by the editor.)

C. J. McManus established Dad and Lad’s store in this building. He moved it to 312 West Main Street in 1938, where he expanded it into a chain that even operated on Guadalcanal when McManus, in the Navy, was stationed there in World War II. A domino parlor and Davis Barber Shop were housed here in recent years.

In 1998, John and Raquel Tellkamp purchased the O’Maley Building, opening their Tellkamp Gallery in the west half. In 2000, they expanded the art gallery into the east half and renovated the upstairs for living quarters, installing an outdoor elevator-like “lift” at the back of the building.

O'Maley sign in sidewalk
July 2010